162,570 slapped with travel ban for unsettled tax dues

LHDN chief executive Sabin Samitah says 162,570 individuals are barred from leaving the country for owing RM4.916bn in tax arrears.

CYBERJAYA, Mar 5 (Sin Chew Daily) -- Internal Revenue Board chief executive officer Datuk Seri Sabin Samitah said a total of 162,570 individuals were barred from leaving the country as of end-2017 for owing RM4.916 billion in tax arrears.

He told Sin Chew Daily LHDN would try to contact tax defaulters through a number of ways such as e-mails, SMS messages, telephone calls, etc., and would only bar them from leaving the country if such notices fall on deaf ears.

He said it would take at least three months from initial attempts to contact taxpayers to issuing tax audit notices and eventually the travel ban.

Sabin insisted that LHDN is normally very accommodating if the defaulters are willing to come froward to discuss ways of settling the arrears and would not force them to pay up immediately, adding that instalment facility is provided for those unable to pay up instantly.

Unlike PTPTN which has set up counters at airports to assist travelers barred from leaving the country, LHDN does not provide such a facility. Therefore, Sabin advised taxpayers to settle their dues at LHDN offices before traveling abroad.